Me Lucky Charms! (because Multigrain Cheerios just doesn't have the same ring to it)

I had an epiphany this morning as I was munching on my breakfast of almond milk, Multigrain Cheerios, and banana. I don't miss milk! Over the past few months I've been cutting back on dairy.

Now, before you start thinking I'm little miss uber health nut, I must admit that my initial reason for going low-dairy was because my friend had started doing it and she was looking quite svelte! I thought to myself, she looks amazing! If I cut back on dairy I'll look like that too! (I was quite certain that her new fit self was all due to the dairy cut back and had nothing to do with the countless hours she spends in the gym. The LIES we tell ourselves to avoid cardio!) But I digress. It was a real eye opener to realize just how much dairy I was consuming on a daily basis even though I had always thought that the dairy I was eating was the healthy kind. You know, organic skim milk with my cereal, Activia yogurt (because it has probiotics!), string cheese for snack, large dollops of not regular sour cream, NEVER regular sour cream, but LIGHT sour cream (because the light sour cream makes you skinny, right?), 2% shredded cheese in casseroles, etc, etc... By the way, I am neither a Dr. nor a health expert by any means and many people are able to eat dairy and remain perfectly healthy! For me personally, though, as I began to wean myself from all of the above a wonderful thing happened! Not only did a lose a couple of pounds (I'm not talking 20 lbs here people, like 3!) but I started to feel lighter in general! I noticed that my perpetually doughy face was less puffy, and best of all my belly didn't feel icky and bloated (ugh, has there ever been a more disgusting word than bloat!). It seemed that I didn't feel as sluggish and lackluster as usual. I also noticed that when I did allow myself the occasional Dairy Delight Day, I would feel the previous symptoms return. Belly ache, puffiness, fatigue... Let me just say that having a little bit of relief from those ailments really gave me the incentive I needed to continue on my low-dairy journey.
 I still, however, allow myself moments to splurge. For instance, I have a long-standing love affair with Talenti Gelato (specifically but not limited to the Double Dark Chocolate one!) This gelato is so delightfully yummy that I really couldn't care less that it will give me a stomach ache. The pain is worth every creamy bite! In fact, I feel that it is my duty to regularly consume this treat because if I didn't, how else would I store my beauty goodies? ;)

Talenti Gelato containers used as makeup storage

All of a sudden I've realized that I should've titled this post "How do I love Talenti Gelato, Let me count the ways!"
SO! In conclusion, while I am always looking for ways to skim a few pounds off the old belly, my foray into the low-dairy world has become more about feeling good and less about the cosmetic benefit. I now love substituting dairy milk for Almond Milk specifically the Blue Diamond Unsweetened Almond Breeze (try saying that 3 times fast) and also, when I'm not indulging in Talenti Gelato, the Chocolate Almond Breeze flavor. It's yumm-O and satisfies my ever present chocolate cravings! I haven't really explored any non-dairy cheese options but if any of you have, do tell!

Yes, the Talenti container is empty because they don't stay full for long in my house!